An
article in Psych Central titled "8 Reasons Why Waiting in Line Drives
us Crazy" identifies key factors
that make waits seem longer; Mobile Key
by OpenWays eliminates those eight factors and more

By Pascal Metivier
June 1, 2012

Whoever
said "Patience is a Virtue" must not have had to endure long lines
during hotel check-in. In a paper titled: "The
Psychology of Waiting in Lines," author David Maister
references a Federal Express advertising campaign that claimed: "Waiting is frustrating, demoralizing,
agonizing,
aggravating, annoying, time consuming and incredibly expensive."
Stating the claim's undeniably, Maister
said: "The waiting-line experience in
a service facility significantly
affects our overall perceptions of the quality of service provided.
Once we are
being served, our transaction with the service organization may be
efficient,
courteous and complete: but the bitter taste of how long it took to get
attention pollutes the overall judgments that we make about the quality
of
service."

So how does this translate to today's travelers and the hotel
check-in experience? Consider this: Patience is defined as: "An
ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when
confronted with delay; tolerant,
quiet, steady perseverance, even-tempered
care, diligence; without complaint, loss of temper, irritation or the
like."
Impatience is defined as: "Being
intolerant of anything
that causes delays; An eager desire for relief."

For those who are truly patient and don't mind long waits and
delays from front-desk staff providing personal attention to other
guests
during the registration process (on average four to five minutes per
non-loyalty club transaction or longer), traditional check in is
tolerable. But
many travelers today -- especially Generation Y travelers (ages 18 to
32) who
spend approximately $200 billion annually on travel, will never be
caught
without a cell phone, love instant gratification and are notorious for
not
being willing to wait in line -- are intolerant of delays and are eager
to get
to their rooms.

Thankfully,
due to advances in mobile technology, today there are options available
for
all travelers to bypass the front-desk and avoid waiting in lines
altogether. By using their cell phones – any model, any carrier – as
convenient, secure room keys for their entire stay, the restlessness
and annoyance
of guests with traditional on-site registration is eliminated.

To
better understand the value a front-desk bypass alternative provides,
especially on the psyche and mental health of today's travelers,
Maister said
managers need to consider guests' wait experience. He wrote: "If managers are to concern themselves with
how long their
customers wait in line for service, they must also pay attention to how
those
waits are experienced. A two-minute wait can feel like nothing at all,
or it
can feel like 'forever'. "

1.
Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time. When you have
something to distract yourself, time passes more quickly. Some hotels
put mirrors by the elevators, because people like to look at themselves.

Mobile
Key eliminates unoccupied time. By removing steps upon
arrival that require guests to stop at the front desk to register and
obtain a plastic room key, customers don't have to worry about
occupying their time while in line. No need to wait in line means no
need to stay occupied.

2. People want to get
started. This is why restaurants give you a menu while you wait,
and why doctors put you in the examination room twenty-five minutes
before your examination actually begins.

Mobile
Key jump-starts the hotel experience. By enabling guests to bypass the
front desk and go immediately to their rooms upon arrival, their travel
experience is not interrupted.

3. Anxiety makes waits
seem longer. If you think you've chosen the slowest line, or
you're worried about getting a seat on the plane, the wait will seem
longer.

Mobile
Key removes anxiety over delays. Guests who choose the
front-desk bypass option are instantly opting to remove any stress
associated with further delays. Even before they arrive at the hotel,
as long as they brought their mobile devices, their secure and
encrypted room keys are in hand, along with room number and
instructions on how to open their doors.

4. Uncertain waits are
longer than known, finite waits. People wait more calmly when
they're told, "The doctor will see you in thirty minutes" than when
they're told, "The doctor will see you soon." Maister gives an amusing
illustration of a phenomenon that I'd noticed in my own life: if I
arrive someplace thirty minutes early, I wait with perfect patience,
but three minutes after my appointment time passes, I start to feel
annoyed. "Just how long am I going to have to wait?" I think.

Mobile
Key means immediate service "upon arrival." With Mobile
Key, bypassing the front desk is instant. There is no wait or time
associated with "when" a guest can bypass the front desk. A traveler
moves from front door to guestroom door instantly.

5. Unexplained waits are
longer than explained waits. We wait more patiently for the
pizza guy when there's a thunderstorm than when the sky is clear. We
wait more patiently on the plane when we know that there's another
plane at the gate.

Mobile
Key means NO WAIT . . . period. With Mobile Key, no explanations
are needed on behalf of the hotel as to why there may be a wait upon
arrival, because there simply is no wait. Consumers are already
traveling with some form of mobile device, so their room key is always
present. A quick data transmission via SMS delivers the data-driven
room key from hotel direct to guest in a secure fashion. The guest was
provided a data room key without wait, plus he or she is contributing
to the environment at the same time by avoiding use of the
environmentally-harmful plastic key.

6. Unfair waits are longer
than equitable waits. People want their waits to be fair. I get
anxious, for instance, when I'm waiting on a crowded subway platform,
when there's no clear, fair way to determine who gets on the next car.
The "FIFO" rule (first in, first out) is a great rule, when it works.
But sometimes certain people need attention more urgently, or certain
people are more valuable customers. Then it gets trickier. Often, when
people are treated out of sequence, it's helpful to have them be served
elsewhere - e.g., people giving customer service by phone shouldn't be
in the same room as people giving service in person.

Mobile
Key treats travelers equally. With Mobile Key, it doesn't matter
what time you arrive at the hotel, how you arrived or with whom you
arrived. Once the reservation is made at an OpenWays equipped hotel and
the traveler has enrolled in the Mobile Key service prior to the
check-in date, he or she will receive a text message containing both
the room number and a secured link to retrieve the room key on the day
they will arrive. It's that simple. Once at the hotel, the guest walks
directly to his or her room.

7. The more valuable the
service, the longer the customer will wait. You'll wait longer
to talk to a doctor than to talk to a sales clerk. You'll stand in line
longer to buy an iPad than to buy a toothbrush.

Mobile
Key provides instant gratification via self service. OpenWays
believes that service value is in the eye of the beholder. Hotel guests
that prefer attended service and wish to speak to a front desk
attendant while registering may do so. Guests also have the option to
obtain plastic key cards in addition to a Mobile Key based on data
during their stay. The beauty of Mobile Key is its flexibility and
ability to let travelers choose how they prefer to experience the
hotel.

8. Solo waits feel longer
than group waits. The more people engage with each other, the
less they notice the wait time. In fact, in some situations, waiting in
line is part of the experience.

Mobile
Key makes everyone comfortable. Whether traveling solo or
in a group, Mobile Key gives everyone the equal opportunity to engage
in the hotel experience more quickly. Those people traveling alone can
avoid any uneasiness from standing in line alone and can immediately
get to their rooms while those traveling in groups can quickly access
their rooms, drop off their luggage and re-group with their party to
start enjoying their stay.

Rather
than creating more nuisances that require guests to stop at the front
desk,
findings from a recent Harvard
Business Review
survey on Self-Service state that oftentimes front
desk interaction -- especially among Generation Y guests and business
travelers
-- is unwanted, and hotels that provide an alternative front-desk
bypass
solution are heightening service and improving their competitive
advantage.
Mobile Key is the alternative that helps provide an exceptional guest
experience.

About Pascal Metivier and
OpenWays

Pascal Metivier is Founder and CEO
of
OpenWays. Previously, he served as President of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality
EMEA,
parent company of VingCard, Elsafe, TimeLox, Uniquey and SafePlace
companies.
He also led a major ASSA ABLOY group NFC mobile phone initiative.
Metivier
possesses 16 years of experience in access management and electronic
lock/door
hardware solutions. He also held leadership positions with Onity,
Senercomm,
CISA Security Products, CISATRON LTD, CISA Spa and SECURIDEV/FONTAINE.

OpenWays is a global solution
provider of
mobile-based access-management and security solutions. With offices in
Chicago,
Las Vegas, Seoul and Paris, OpenWays provides technology solutions
allowing for
the secure issuance and delivery of access rights and keys processed
via any
cell phone operating on any network. The OpenWays solution is truly
unique as
it is built on the concept of credential dematerialization. The
OpenWays mobile
room key solution works on ALL the
6+ billion cell phones in
service in the world today. For more information, please contact Pascal
Metivier at ++ 33 6 85 622 306 or email [email protected] or Barb
Worcester at
+1 440 930 5770 or email [email protected]. www.OpenWays.com.